🚀 go-pugleaf

Love-Hounds Digest			    Friday, January 10, 1986, 16:23

Today's Topics:

		       Kate Bush in Digital Audio
		       M+M update & KB 'reviews'

[][][][][][][][][][]

Date:  Thu, 19 Dec 85 20:17 MST
From: "James J. Lippard" <Lippard@HIS-PHOENIX-MULTICS.ARPA>
Subject:  Kate Bush in Digital Audio
Reply-To:  Lippard@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA

 Performance:  9/10
 Sound Quality:  9/10

  Kate Bush's music has always come from the heart.  Although Hounds of
Love is a complex and richly layered work, it's no exception to the
rule.
  Since releasing the primitive but inspired The Kick Inside at the age
of 18, Bush has evolved into a kind of modern renaissance woman:
writer, producer, and Fairlight "player."
  Her lyrics go far beyond the expected pop music norm of adolescent
writing.  They have depth and are always interesting, even though some
of the meanings may be known only to Bush herself.  Bush isn't a "churn
it out no matter what" kind of artist; she has never followed the
album-a-year formula.  For this reason, her works tend to be creative
and unique.
  This does not, however, mean that Hounds of Love is for everybody.
Bush has always had a highly original and idosyncratic style that never
allows a listener's opinion to fall on middle ground.  But once planted,
the seeds of Bush's strange but seductive vocal melodies and harmonies
grow and ripen with each listen.
  Part of the success of Hounds of Love stems from its use of so many
different textures without compromising musicality.  These include
processed and/or layered vocals, unusual tones and sound effects,
traditional instruments, all manner of real and electronic drums and
percussion...the list goes on.  "The Big Sky" and "Waking the Witch" are
fine experiments in varying textures.
  Bush says she aimed for a perfect blend of the best acoustic and
electronic sounds on this recording.  Striving for acoustic perfection
she solicits the help of instruments such as fiddles, whistles,
bouzouki, uillean pipes, and dijeridu.
  On the electronic side, Bush skillfully explores the possibilities of
the Fairlight--that part keyboard, part computer which enables the
competent user to create a variety of sounds almost without limitation.
"Watching You Without Me," a song with a distinctly Eastern flavor, is a
gorgeous blend of acoustic bass and Fairlight.
  The sound quality of this disc is first-rate.  Part of this may be
attributed to Bush's sensitive approach to producing her own music,
competent engineering, and digital mixdown--all of which leads to a
clean and well-balanced recording.
  If you're tired of waking up to the same old CDs every morning, the
freshness of Hounds of Love will make your day.
       -- Hugh Hardy

Bush's most wonderfully eccentric performance yet.
     -- Scott E. Smith, Nashville, TN

Kate Bush:  Passionate and classy.  Analog, but fine anyway.
     -- Sugith Varughese, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

[From Digital Audio, January 1986]

Jim (Lippard at MIT-MULTICS.ARPA)

[][][][][][][][][][]

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 85 10:13:20 est
From: H. Chai <utflis!allegra!ihnp4!utcsri!chai>
Subject: M+M update & KB 'reviews'


Just happened to come across the Oct 85 issue of _Canadian Musician_,
and the cover story was M+M.  They were in England then, working with
David Lord (P. Gabriel's producer), at his studio at Bath, on their
next album _The World is a Ball_.  The article is by Daniel Richler.
Mark Gane on their new album: "Our music has long occupied two extremes.
Since _This is the Ice Age_ we've split off into a rhythmic thing and 
an ambient thing.  This record seems paticularly schizophrenic.  You'll
hear ironic juxtapositions.  You're thrown from one thing to another.
That and the title, _The World is a Ball_, are meant to exemplify
the kind of life we have in the 20th century.  We're bombarded by so
many different and violent conflicting elements."

Several musicians who work with Gabreil also appear in this album,
including Tony Levin, Jerry Moroder, Dick Smith, the last of whom
brought "a vanload of third world instrumnets", including a bass
marimba, maribula, and something called a 'rainmaker': "which sends
seeds cascading through a spiral on the interior of a bamboo tube".

Richler commented that several songs sound as if they incorporate
African rhythms, but Mark says that the resemblance is accidental.
"A lot of those rhythm loops were done on a little effects box
we have at home that came out before all those computerized samplers.
It does overdubbing onto a click track, then you can make it go
backwards or change octaves.  We've been using it for years.  Often
you don't know what time signature it's making or anything.  It does 
sound evocative, but I wouldn't know how to make an African rhythm if 
I tried."

Sounds like a very interesting album to look forward to.

} Really-From: nessus (Doug Alan)
} I've seen very very few negative reviews of HoL.

Well I just read one yesterday! It was in a British mag called
_Hi Fi Answers_ (if I didn't remember it wrong).  The reviewer 
said HoL is as overproduced as _The Dreaming_, and that tD
didn't win her any new friends [what? who just said "HA"? :-]
and HoL won't either.  "Still a talented artist, but someone
has to take her by the scruff of her neck."  Well, you good
people, what say we all go over to England and take the reviewer
by the scruff of HIS neck, eh?  And while we're there we could
also camp outside KB's door......(Doug, we're still waiting for
your transcipt of the interview! :-)

In this month's _Graffiti_, KB was featured in a one page article.
This one contained nothing exciting, but it does have a color
pic of KB: the "hands in hair and pouting" one offered in the
limited edition package. (BTW, _Graffiti_ is a Canadian rock music
mag).

-- henry

[][][][][][][][][][]


-- 
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under.

Greg Skinner (gregbo)
{decvax!genrad, allegra, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds
gds@mit-eddie.mit.edu